Wednesday, June 29, 2016

What is more fun than finding hidden treasure? This scavenger hunt focuses on plants and animals that live under the seas. This scavenger hunt works well with a water-themed or pirate-themed party. If you have multiple children playing, consider giving each child a small box (treasure chest) to color and decorate while you are hiding the clues. As players find each letter of the hidden message, they can place the letter in the treasure chest until the end when they assemble the letters to create the hidden message. (See graphics below.)

After everyone has completed the scavenger hunt, you might plan to have water games for a grand finale! This could be as simple as purchasing a few squirt bottles such as those that hold mustard and catsup and filling them with water. Hand them to the kids...I doubt that you'll need an explanation. If the weather is not cooperating or if you don't want everyone soaking wet, you might consider turning out the lights and having a glowstick party and pretend to be underwater - I have included a link to my glowstick workout playlist at the bottom of this article.

If you wish to turn this into a more educational activity...

Before the scavenger hunt, find web pages with information about each sea animal or plant featured in the scavenger hunt and take a few minutes to learn 3-5 facts about each one before giving the next riddle and encourage players to act out being each sea plant or animal. This hunt also includes some challenging vocabulary words, such as echolocation and vigilant.

If you wish to encourage the artistic side...

Before the scavenger hunt, find and print coloring pages featuring each sea animal or plant featured in the scavenger hunt and have the players color each one as the hunt progresses or provide all coloring pages at the end. Or find a good, clear photo of each sea animal or plant featured in the scavenger hunt and have the players to draw their own version of each one while providing a wide variety of art supplies such as crayons, markers, glitter glue, colored paper/scissors/glue, etc. Or any combination of the above.

Directions

Have the players go to a room where you will not be hiding clues. My family did this as an indoor hunt, but it could be tweaked to be played outdoors.

Print the rhyming riddles, answers, clues (if needed), and hidden message below. If multiple children are playing, print a hidden message for each player and cut out each letter. Hide multiples of the same letter in each hiding spot. For example, hide all of the "u's" together with one riddle.

Keep the first riddle and hide each of the remaining riddles with one hidden message letter in the area described for answering the previous one - I've included hints for hiding the riddles; feel free to tweak as desired. The last hiding spot will only contain the last letter for the hidden message.

Give the players the first riddle and one letter for the hidden message. Have the player to read the riddle and determine the missing word.

As the players solve each riddle, give them a hint about where to hunt for the next riddle and letter.

NOTE: The hidden message letters spell Under the Seas. These letters may be hidden in the exact order for an easier level, or you may wish to scramble the order of letters and have players to assemble them at the end to discover the hidden message on their own. If the players are having a hard time solving the hidden message, you might start humming the song "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid.

If the players are having a hard time guessing the correct sea plant or animal, you can provide a word bank by cutting out the answers on the answer sheet and placing them in random order. Ask the player to pick out the answer that rhymes with the blue word in the riddle.

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Spring has sprung with all its glorious beauty in my neck of the woods. I love to growing flowers and enjoy meandering through flower gardens of all types. This scavenger hunt features ten flowers. The clues often have quite a few hints for those who have studied the history of these beauties. This scavenger hunt could lend itself well to an outdoor hunt, but you may wish to take something like a penny to the back of the flower pictures to keep them from blowing away.

Most are well known by those of us who grow flowers, but this hunt may be challenging for those who aren't familiar with the names of flowers. Have no fear! I have included options to help identify the flowers. Each clue has an end-rhyming word in the second line and the last line includes an adjective that begins with the first letter of the flower. You have the option to offer a word bank if players are stumped.

This scavenger hunt might be additionally educational as some of the clues have a few vocabulary words that players might learn how to pronounce in addition to the meaning of the words. I chose photos that exemplified some of the more well-known varieties of these flowers; participants may wish to search for images of additional varieties. This would be a great time to plant your own flower garden after playing the game; you might consider planting a couple from the scavenger hunt. You might also consider going for a walk and identifying various flowers, taking photos of your favorites.

I wish to give credit to the various photos I used for this hunt. Many thanks to the photographers on Morguefile for providing these free of charge. See the graphic below for photographer names and URLs:

Flower Photographer Attribution for Katrena's Flower Scavenger Hunt

Preparation Before the Hunt (see graphics below for free printables)

Print the small flower picture page for yourself and cut out each small flower picture and place them on a table in a room where players will read each clue. If you are not sure how to identify the flowers, I've included pages with each flower labeled; you may wish to print a "cheat sheet" page for yourself and label each flower.

Print one small flower page for each participant and cut out each small flower picture.

Select a different room(s) and place the small flower pictures randomly around the room(s) in places where they can easily see the pictures.

Print the clue page.

Print the congratulations bouquet page (one for each participant) and hide in a place where players won't readily see them.

Print the answers to the clues if needed.

Print the word bank if needed.

Directions for the Flowers Scavenger Hunt

Have players read the first clue and solve the riddle and identify the picture of the flower.

After solving the riddle, players find and bring back the photo of the matching flower.

Repeat for each riddle.

After all riddles are solved and small flower pictures are found, have participants search for the congratulations bouquet(s).

Saturday, January 23, 2016

This indoor scavenger hunt features rhyming riddles for ten different types of weather. I have included a list of answers and ideas for hiding the riddles as well as an added hidden message for finding with the clues. I hope your family enjoys this scavenger hunt as much as we have. At the moment we are snowed in and looking for fun indoor activities!

Directions

Have the players go to a room where you will not be hiding clues.

Print the riddles, answers, hints for finding the riddles, and hidden message.

Ensure that you have frozen treats for all players (optional).

Keep the first riddle and one letter of the hidden message and hide each of the remaining riddles with one hidden message letter in the area described for answering the previous one. The last place will only contain the last letter for the hidden message.

Give the players the first riddle and one letter for the hidden message.

As the players solve each riddle, give them a hint about where to hunt for the next riddle and letter.

Surprise the players with a frozen treat after solving the last riddle!

NOTE: The hidden message letters spell meteorology, which is the study of the atmosphere with an emphasis on weather and forecasting the weather. These letters may be hidden in the exact order for an easier level, or you may wish to scramble the order of letters to add another challenge to the scavenger hunt. I hid mine in the opposite order so the kids would find the double letters "ME" at the last station. ("Oh, this popsicle is for ME?")

If the players are having a hard time guessing the correct type of weather, you can provide a word bank using the answer sheet. Ask the player to pick out the answer that rhymes with the blue letter in the riddle.

About Me

I currently serve as a Faith Community Nurse at a local church. This is an ever-changing role in which I visit one-on-one with clients, provide education and advocacy, develop fitness challenges and lead group exercise classes, coordinate an annual health fair, and encourage health promotion and disease prevention within the community.
Before becoming a FCN, I worked as a staff nurse at a Bone Marrow Transplant Unit in a large teaching hospital for 17 1/2 years and have been teaching group exercise since 1999.
I developed the first online curriculum for nurse aides in North Carolina and still develop and teach some online classes for a local community college.